Perhaps your independent, autonomous spirit won’t allow you to rely on the many transportation systems set up for you in India. If you must get somewhere on your own terms, here are four options:
How to Get to Another City: Transportation in India
Now that you have figured out how to get around your city, it’s time to expand your horizons! Traveling around India is fun and guaranteed to give you a great story. Just by traveling as few as 200 km away, you might find yourself in what seems like a whole new country! #IndiasNotIndia
You have four main options to get to a different city (unless you plan on getting there on your own):
How to Get Around Your City: Transportation in India
Most Indian cities have a plethora of methods of transportation to choose from, and each comes with its own advantages and stories. Here are some options you might have: [Read more…]
Book Review: The Story of My Experiments with Truth
The Story of My Experiments with Truth by M.K. Gandhi
This one comes under those “you should read it at least once” books.
Gandhiji (the respectful way to refer to him) is a very strange figure in Indian history. He is both more Indian and less Indian than anyone you will ever meet or read about. Indians love to celebrate him and love to distance themselves from him. His name lives on in a legacy of political leaders that he would likely not endorse.
Gandhiji’s influence on India is a topic for another post. This book is his autobiography and his views of what was going on around him during the beginnings of the movement for a free and independent India. It is a classic, however don’t expect it to prepare you for Indian culture like other books might.
[Read more…]
Joint Families
In 2009, Oprah Winfrey interviewed Abhishek Bachchan and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan. Oprah eased into asking them a question about their living situation since she heard they lived with Abhishek’s parents, Amitabh and Jaya Bachchan. Watch their response.
Despite reports that Abhishek and Aishwerya are actually moving out on their own soon, the joint family system still has a way of jarring those brought up in individualistic countries where if you aren’t living on your own by 25, something is wrong with you.
Whether you are trying to understand why so many 30-year-olds at your office still live with their parents or if you are shocked at finding people behind every door when visiting your Indian friend’s home, it is important to get a grip on how the joint families in India work and how they affects modern families.
[Read more…]
Working for a Parent Leader
Now that we’ve identified what a Parent Leader is and looked at some tips on acting like a Parent Leader, what if you are working for a Parent Leader?
In the past, multinational companies (MNCs) based in the US or Europe would open up offices in India and send their own management to begin all the operations. When they came, they needed to learn about how to lead Indians.
But today’s world is different. Huge Indian conglomerates like Tata, Reliance, and Aditya Birla are hiring high-level leaders from around the world to work for them. They are buying up foreign companies that will help them expand their reach. Homegrown Indian technical companies like TCS, Infosys, HCL, and Cognizant are quickly becoming the world leaders in their industries.
In today’s world you are nearly just as likely to have an Indian for a boss as you are to have one working for you. Therefore, it is helpful to know how to behave as a team member if your boss is a Parent Leader.
[Read more…]
Two Kinds of Culture Shock
There are two kinds of culture shock.
The first is the kind you get when you are riding in your first taxi ride from the airport around India and force yourself to close your eyes as the driver dodges cars, cows, bicycles, and pedestrians in traffic.
The second kind is what happens six weeks later when you find yourself physically pushing someone out of the way who has cut the queue in front of you and yelling “What’s wrong with you?!”
To distinguish between the two, I’ll call the second a culture attack.
Culture shocks are actually a little bit fun. These are the experiences you tell your friends and family about when you go back home. It was like culture shock when everyone jammed into the train all at once! That was crazy! These are simple isolated experiences of cultural differences that leave an impression on us.
Culture attacks are hellish. They overtake your body and leave you feeling like the Incredible Hulk. You don’t tell people back home about these times. How do you tell your mother about the time when you got out your car and threatened to kill the motorcyclist who pulled out in front of you? [Read more…]
Giving an Introduction in India
Quick! You are attending an event with an eminent speaker, and your colleague suddenly comes over to you and asks you to give the introduction. You’ve never heard of the speaker before, but your colleague gives you three printed pages highlighting the speaker’s career. What do you do when it is your turn to speak?
A.) Read aloud all three pages line by line in their entirety
B.) Scan through the pages and deliver a one-minute summary, picking out the most relevant information
C.) Choose one or two parts of the speaker’s profile about which you can share a story to establish a person connection with the speaker, and tell everyone why they should listen
[Read more…]
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